Read How Colangelo & Raptors Attempt at "Wooing" Nash

This is pretty impressive. So sad that we failed.

Marc Stein wrote:

Raptors president and general manager Bryan Colangelo was the first caller to get through shortly after 12:01 a.m. Officials from the Knicks, Heat, Lakers, Mavericks and Nets dialed in soon thereafter. And with his client sitting in such close proximity after their late-night meal, Duffy offered each team that rang an opportunity to speak directly to Nash.

It didn't seem like much at the time, but that's when Nash and Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak had their first chat. Kupchak let Duffy know that he was well aware of Nash's comments to Stephen A. Smith on ESPN New York 98.7 just days before about how "hard" it would be "to put on a Lakers jersey" after all of the Suns' playoffs battles with Kobe Bryant and Co. When Kupchak explained that he "had to call anyway," Duffy thanked him and assured him that he was wise to check in, dismissing Nash's quotes as "media hype."

Yet that's as far as things went with the Lakers on Day 1. Face-to-face meetings were quickly arranged with the two most obvious serious suitors to get the Nash sweepstakes officially underway: Toronto and New York.

The Raptors were first up at 10:30 a.m., with a seven-strong contingent of team officials arriving on a cross-country flight arranged by Raptors co-owner Larry Tanenbaum. With Raptors assistant coach Eric Hughes getting married that weekend in Pasadena, Calif., Tanenbaum made his private jet available to transport Colangelo, Raptors coach Dwane Casey, Nash's former Team Canada coach Jay Triano and the rest of the group to the other side of the country as quickly as possible overnight.

Tanenbaum also provided his ritzy Central Park apartment to serve as the venue for what Duffy described as a "big presentation." The food was lavish and the contract offer rich, but the video compilation Colangelo ordered up for the occasion made an impression on Nash that moved him more than a three-year, $36 million pitch ever could -- largely because Wayne Gretzky was the narrator.

Rumbles that Gretzky, one of Nash's boyhood heroes, would be involved in the Raptors' Nash pitch leaked out through the Toronto media before the two parties got together, but "involved" was understating it. The Great One's unmistakable voice was the backdrop for a compilation of clips and interviews that traced Nash's lifelong journey from young basketball dreamer on faraway Victoria Island in British Columbia to two-time MVP with the Suns, hitting all the stops (Santa Clara, Canada's fairy-tale run at the 2000 Olympics and more) in between and promising a Gretzky-esque legacy if he'd join the Raptors now.

More than one person in the room would later say that Nash was fighting back tears watching it all.

"We all were," Duffy said. "It was like watching a Hall of Fame video.

"They wanted us to close the deal right then."

Colangelo's approach was reminiscent of the full-court press that greeted Nash from Phoenix on the opening day of free agency back in 2004 -- when another extra-large traveling party descended upon Dallas to swipe Nash away from Mark Cuban's Mavericks -- with the bonus of knowing that the inspired Gretzky wrinkle took the whole operation to a new level. The difference this time, eight years later, is that Nash simply wasn't ready to move that quickly. He couldn't decide that fast knowing that the familiar soil of Toronto, home to Canada's only NBA franchise, was an address far away from his kids.

i just dont understand the whole Gretzky angle.. why pick a canadian who doesnt even live here, why pick 99 who turned the leafs down to play in NY.. & who soo famously played in L.A, it just seems like a dumb attempt to woo nash... they'd have been better off using Don Cherry to pitch playing in Canada then #99...

If being near his kids is so important, why does he spend his summers in NY? Does he have custody during the summer?

Edit: I highly doubt he has summer-long custody of the toddler.

Does anybody actually believe this was the reason? It's just PR maneuvering.

Note: I'm sure Nash is a concerned father, and loves to be with his kids. But realistically, LA, NY or TO is not going to have that big an impact on how often he sees them. NBA schedules are pretty damn tight.

i just dont understand the whole Gretzky angle.. why pick a canadian who doesnt even live here, why pick 99 who turned the leafs down to play in NY.. & who soo famously played in L.A, it just seems like a dumb attempt to woo nash... they'd have been better off using Don Cherry to pitch playing in Canada then #99...

I think the whole idea was that Nash could do for basketball in Canada what Gretzky did for hockey in California and the US in general. Turning Nash from great basketball player into a sports icon kind of idea. Not sure if that was the right sell to Nash but it was always the best the could offer. Forget the ring cause we can't get you that but we can make you a larger than life, beyond basketball type star....

There is absolutely nothing stopping him from living in Phoenix in the off season, but he doesn't. So unless his kids live with him in NY during the summer, which is doubtful, he's giving up the opportunity to spend a few months solid with them for no contractual reason.

There is absolutely nothing stopping him from living in Phoenix in the off season, but he doesn't. So unless his kids live with him in NY during the summer, which is doubtful, he's giving up the opportunity to spend a few months solid with them for no contractual reason.

Marc Stein's article is obviously written by a PR firm.

I believe the ex goes to NY for the summer too, that's why he wanted NY.

i just dont understand the whole Gretzky angle.. why pick a canadian who doesnt even live here, why pick 99 who turned the leafs down to play in NY.. & who soo famously played in L.A, it just seems like a dumb attempt to woo nash... they'd have been better off using Don Cherry to pitch playing in Canada then #99...

"Rumbles that Gretzky, one of Nash's boyhood heroes, would be involved in the Raptors' Nash pitch leaked out through the Toronto media before the two parties got together"
Uhhh, no. Never heard of this Hail Mary move until now, and I've been armpit deep in the Nash media circus from day one.

Not sure how reliable he is, but Doug Smith said that the kids spend the summer in NY with Nash (since they're out of school). This was on Sportsnet 590 in an interview with Bob McCown late last week.

The separation/divorce is a recent event. I believe 2011 was the first summer. I dont know if there was some arrangement where they could join him in NY. Obviously they all went to NY for the summer before that time.

"Rumbles that Gretzky, one of Nash's boyhood heroes, would be involved in the Raptors' Nash pitch leaked out through the Toronto media before the two parties got together"
Uhhh, no. Never heard of this Hail Mary move until now, and I've been armpit deep in the Nash media circus from day one.

Nash saying proximity to his kids was one of the clinchers is ridiculous since he globetrots all summer and spends most of his time in NYC.

He owes Toronto nothing, and it would have been so dorky and cringe if he signed here. I'm glad he didn't.

Well, I heard it. And Canada's fairy tale run for the Olympics had them playing a game that would have put them in the bronze medal contest if they had won. Considering the last time the Canadian National Basketball team had a shot at a medal, I would say that is pretty good. I think they were ranked 12th or 13th in the world at the time.

Have you met many under 2 year olds who happily spend many weeks or months away from mom?

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You do know that 2011 was the first summer the parents were separated? They all spent their summers in NY before then. I believe Nash. He left a few million on the table to go to LA. Obviously that the good team (LAL) was a consideration as well which he doesnt deny...so why would you believe he is blowing smoke about the family thing? He has a very good reputation as being a straight shooter including keeping his promise to the Suns to arrange a s&t to have them get some assets. His circumstances did not make it necessary to do that.

“The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.” - Martin Luther King